


Bioluminescence

by summerbutterfly



Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Related, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Male Bonding, Mentions of Haru - Freeform, Skinny Dipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-22 17:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2515532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerbutterfly/pseuds/summerbutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A conversation between Rin and Makoto that didn't happen, but should have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bioluminescence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mrsgingles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrsgingles/gifts).



Rin's hand was covered in stars. Tiny, blue-white stars no bigger than a grain of rice, swirling around the worm he held between his fingers. Makoto stared. He'd had no idea something so beautiful could be found living in the nighttime ocean, but there they were, illuminating the tide pool next to their feet with a soft, other-worldy glow. 

"What...what are they?" Makoto whispered. 

Rin smiled. "Umi-hotaru," he said. "You've never heard of them?"

"No. How did you even..."

"My dad." Rin dragged his fingers just under the surface. The little creatures followed, leaving a luminous trail of starlight in their wake. "It was just before...you know...and he'd just returned from a trip. He said on their last night out, they were hauling in the catch when it suddenly looked like the sky had fallen into the ocean. Shining stars everywhere, chasing after the nets. He said he'd show me soon, when the season wound down, but then the typhoon happened and...he never did. It's okay, though. Because I discovered them soon after on my own."

Rin lifted his hand. The little shapes glittered in his palm and Makoto leaned closer, daring to dip his finger in the middle of them. They danced, and Makoto realized this was the first time Rin had ever really spoken about his dad as more than just an abstract concept. That this was the closest they'd ever been to acknowledging Rin's pain and Makoto's life-long fear of the ocean came almost from the same place. Makoto had put two and two together a long time ago, of course, realizing that the funeral procession he'd witness with Haru was the same one Rin had walked in with Gou. But this was, in all the years they'd known each other, the closest they'd ever come to ever speaking of such things out loud.

"I'm sorry," Makoto said. "That you never got to do this with your dad, I mean."

"It's okay. He'd be happy to know I figured out how to find them myself, and even happier to know I was sharing the sight with a friend." 

"You think?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely." 

Rin turned his hand over. The little stars clung to his skin for a second before falling back into the pool where they hovered briefly before skittering away, chasing the worm Rin had dropped as it sank to the bottom. Makoto watched them as they seemed to merge together, their individual sparkles uniting into one, shimmering, mass.

And then Rin spoke again.

"So," he said. "Tokyo for university, huh?"

Makoto's gaze shot up. He stared at Rin, the tight feeling in his chest having nothing to do with the dark ocean water lapping just on the other side of the jetty's rocks. "Who...who told you?"

"Coach Sasabe. Not in so many words, but he handed me your recommendation letter instead of mine when I stopped in the other day. I was home before I realized it had right university but the wrong name on the envelope. Sorry."

"Oh," Makoto said. "It's no big deal, I just..."

"You haven't told anyone yet, right? I kind of figured. Don't worry, I won't say anything."

Makoto brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I know you won't, but um...if you're up for it, I could use your help."

"With?"

"Telling...people."

"You mean, like Haru?"

Makoto nodded. 

Rin looked down at the tide pool. "I say just do it. He may get upset, but he'll understand. He's got to know on some level that you can't be with him forever, right?"

"Yes," Makoto said. "But that doesn't make telling him any easier. And I don't know why, but I feel like he's going to be angry with me. Which won't change my mind about going, but I...I don't want to hurt him, Rin."

"Of course you don't, but this isn't _about_ Haru. This is about you. You have to live your life."

"But what if..."

"What if nothing. Tell him! No matter what, he's not going to get nearly as mad at you as Gou did at me when I told her I was going back to Australia."

Makoto started. He looked over at Rin, eyes wide. "Y...you're going back?"

"Yeah. Well, most likely. My coach wrote and asked me to return to his team, so I've been looking into universities and places to live in Sydney. And if I do it, I'll probably leave right after graduation."

"Oh."

Makoto took in his friend's face. Rin looked as casual as if he'd just told Makoto what he was having for lunch, or that the color of the sky was blue. He didn't seem the least bit phased by the idea of spending three, maybe more years thousands of miles away from home, separated from everything and everyone loved. 

But then again, such things had never seemed to phase Rin.

Makoto sighed. "You're so brave." He looked away, staring out at the horizon. "You really are. Nothing scares you. You just...you just chase after things like you're always sure it's going to work out. I wish I could do that."

"You can," Rin said. "What's stopping you?"

"Well, first off, I'm not at all like you..."

"What makes you say that?" 

"Um, it's kind of obvious, isn't it? I don't have your swimming talent, or your grades, or your leadership skills, or your charisma..."

"Makoto." Rin fixed him with a firm gaze. "You don't need any of that. All you need is to decide you want to do something, and do it."

"You make it sound so easy."

"Because it is! You decided to go to Tokyo, right?"

"Yes, but that's different!"

"How?"

"Because it wasn't at all impulsive! Or spontaneous, or spur-of-the-moment! I thought about the decision for months, weighing all the pros and cons, figuring out the logistics of housing, helping Coach Sasabe with the swim club to earn a little extra money..."

"So going to Tokyo doesn't count because it wasn't impulsive enough?"

"No! Yes...maybe...I don't..."

Rin sighed and shook his head. "You're hopeless, Makoto. Come on."

He stood up, offering Makoto his hand. Makoto took it, scrambling to his feet. He wanted to ask where they were going, and why the subject had changed so abruptly, but Rin had let go of him and was already out of earshot, picking his way nimbly back down the rocks toward the beach. Makoto set out after him, slower though as he was not nearly as at ease on the uneven surface as Rin was. And as he reached sand, he almost lost his footing. But not because of the rocks. Because Rin was standing there, barefoot, shirt in hand and shorts undone. 

Makoto stared. "Rin! W...what are you doing?"

Rin smiled. "Being impulsive," he said. "Wanna join me?"

"Doing what?"

"What do you think, Makoto? We're at the beach, and it's a little dark to build sandcastles."

Makoto blinked, realization dawning slowly. "Swimming?" he questioned. "But we didn't bring our suits..."

Rin looked him straight in the eye and hooked his thumbs in his waistband.

Makoto went bright red. "Oh," he murmured. "Oh, no, I don't know if I can....I don't really like to be..."

"To be what? In the ocean? Or naked?" 

Makoto looked down. "Both?" he mumbled. 

Rin chuckled, but not unkindly. "You don't have to," he said. "You can stay here if you want, but I'm going in. And I think you should, too."

Makoto looked at Rin, then looked at the water. On one hand, the idea of swimming at night still made his stomach clench. But on the other, he knew this stretch of beach as well as he knew his own name. He came here all the time with the twins because it was shallow, especially at low tide when the sandbar went all the way out past the jetty's end. It was chest-deep on him at most, and Rin must have known this, too, because he didn't seem the least bit concerned that Makoto was going to turn him down.

"Well?" Rin said. 

Makoto bit his lip. "All right," he said. "I'll...I'll do it. But no peeking. And no leaving me behind!"

"I solemnly swear I will not peek," Rin said. "Nor will I leave you behind. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay." Rin turned his back. "I'll go first."

He pushed down his shorts. Makoto averted his eyes as he wiggled out of his briefs, waiting until he heard the splash of Rin's feet in the shallows before looking up again. Then, he undressed quickly, moving both his and Rin's clothes onto a drier patch of sand before turning toward the water.

Taking a deep breath, Makoto shuffled in. It was nearly mid-summer, so the water didn't feel as cold as it would have if the air weren't so warm, but Makoto's skin prickled anyway, and he hurried to Rin, not wanting to be too far away lest any panic set in.

Rin smiled at him as he came up. "Nice of you to join me. On three?"

"On three what?" Makoto asked.

"We dive in."

Makoto looked down at the dark water. Because of the jetty and the shallows, the pull of the tide was nothing more than a gentle tug, but he still didn't like it. "Shouldn't we give it a few more minutes?" he said hesitantly. "You know, to adjust?" 

He felt Rin's foot nudge his ankle. "Are you a swimmer or aren't you?" Rin teased. "You know the fastest way to get used to the water temperature is to just do it."

"In a pool, sure," Makoto said. "But this is...different."

"Makoto..."

"It is! I..."

He trailed off. Rin's expression had suddenly changed from amused to startled, and Makoto felt a wave of fear wash over him. He leapt closer, pressing himself into Rin's back, fingers digging into Rin's arms as he practically climbed onto Rin's shoulders. 

"What?" he whimpered. "What is it? What's wrong? Did you see something? _Is it big_?"

"No," Rin said. "Look."

Makoto frowned. They were practically sandwiched together, and Rin was staring directly down at the water, but Makoto couldn't see anything except for the shadowy, indistinct ocean floor. 

"What am I looking at?" he asked. "I swear to the sea goddess if it's something that bites..."

"No," Rin said again. " _Look_ , Makoto. Right in front of you."

Rin pointed, and finally Makoto saw it. The tiny cluster of little blue lights bobbing just under the surface. And as he watched, the little cluster was joined by another. And then another. And then still more until the ocean around them was luminous with blue light. 

"Oh my goodness," Makoto breathed. 

"Like the sky fell into the ocean," Rin said, and Makoto felt Rin's fingers touch his.

They stayed perfectly still, all thoughts of swimming forgotten as the fireflies pooled around them. It was magical. And beautiful. And brilliant. And an almost unexpected chance for Makoto to confront the thing that had haunted him since childhood and to see it in a new way. Because standing there, he suddenly realized that he had just as much to love about the ocean as he did to fear it. Although the ocean sometimes brought storms, it also brought life, and beauty, and special moments with his family and friends.

Makoto's heart swelled.

"Hey, Rin?" he murmured. 

"Yeah?"

"I think...I think I get now."

"Get what?"

"What you were saying before." Makoto splayed his hand over the shining surface. "About doing things that seem scary. If you don't do them, you'll never know what you might have missed. You'll never know if you gave up an opportunity to witness something beautiful. And even if it doesn't work out, there's always something worth discovering and understanding."

Rin nodded. "Weird, isn't it? But it always turns out to be true. At least in my experience."

"Like...right now?"

"Yeah. Like right now."

A soft gust of wind ruffled the water's surface. The fireflies shifted, drifting into a crescent-shape. They lingered there for a few seconds, and then slowly began to drift, heading away from them down the beach. 

Makoto and Rin watched until their glow had faded to a dim glimmer. 

"You still want to swim?" Rin asked, and Makoto noticed their fingers were still touching. That the whole time they'd been standing there, Rin had kept his hand on top of Makoto's on his arm.

"I wouldn't mind." Makoto rested his chin on Rin's shoulder. "It's so hot on shore, and so nice out here, and maybe there are more fireflies we haven't seen yet." 

Rin laughed. "Fair enough. How about we go out to the end of the jetty and back then?"

"Sounds good," Makoto said. "Race you?"

"Oh, you are so on!"

Makoto laughed as Rin dove in, coming up a few feet away and shooting a cheeky grin in Makoto's direction. Spurred on, Makoto dove too, shooting past Rin and heading for the end of the rocks.

He was too caught up in his own new-found freedom to notice that Rin didn't follow immediately. Or to notice that Rin was still looking in the direction the fireflies had gone as Makoto paddled off. And by then he was too far away to hear Rin whisper, "Thanks, Dad," to the rolling tide before turning to finally follow behind. 

But then again, maybe it was better that way.

**Author's Note:**

> A little about [umi hotaru](http://umiho.net/efiles/1umiho.html) and a [ visual ](http://vimeo.com/63493105) for the curious. :)


End file.
